Connected shoe soles



April 17, 1962 L. BANKS ETAL 3,029,531

CONNECTED SHOE SOLES Filed June 21, 1960 lo 1s 21 J 20 I4 la 18 20 w b 28 JNVENTOR. J 7157. E LAWRENCE BANKS BY STANLEY BANKS 3 A TTOP/VEY United States Patent 3,029,531 CONNECTED SHOE SOLES Lawrence Banks, 33 East End Ave, and Stanley Banks, 67 Park Terrace, both of New York, NFL Filed June 21, 1960, Ser. No. 37,706 1 Claim. (Cl. 36-25) This invention concerns a sole construction for shoes, boots and the like.

It is one object of the invention to provide an assembly including a pair of complementary half soles formed as an integral unit joined by a narrow frangible web so that the half soles can be readily separated.

The invention is directed at half soles formed of rub- 7 her, composition material, synthetic plastic or other manmade material adapted to be cast, extruded or formed by other known molding methods in mass production machinery. The half soles are integrally joined at their shank ends forming pairs which etfects economies in manufacture, shipping, storage and use. The shoe repairman has at hand both complementary half soles for repairing a shoe without the necessity of searching through separate piles for mating left and right half soles. His storage and inventory procedures are also simplified.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a shoe sole assembly embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is an edgewise elevational view of the assembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an edgewise elevational view of the assembly in a folded condition.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of a shoe sole assembly, embodying a modified form of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of still another shoe sole assembly, embodying a further modified form of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken on line 88 of FIG. 7.

In FIGS. 1-4, there is shown a shoe sole assembly 10 including two complementary half soles 12 and 14 cut simultaneously from a single piece of flexible composition material. The assembly constitutes the two half soles 12 and 14 joined at their shank ends forming a single slab with a flat bottom 16. The major portions of the tops 18 and 2th of the several half soles are coplanar and parallel to the bottom 16. The top of the slab is reduced progressively in thickness, the shank portions 19, 21 and with the bottom defines a thin, flexible but frangible, narrow web 23 at the straight line of junction between the several half soles. The two half soles can be readily separated by manually pulling them apart to break the narrow thin web 23. If desired, to effect an economy in storage space, the slab can be folded along the web 23 to dispose the soles in a compact overlaying configuration as shown in FIG. 4.

In F168. 5 and 6, the assembly 10 has half soles 12 and Id joined by a narrow web provided with aligned spaced slots 25. This structure of the web facilitates tearing or breaking the web thus separating the two half soles and also facilitates folding. Other portions of assembly Th corresponding to assembly 10 are identically numbered. The form of web structure of assembly 10 will be provided when the material is made of a very tough flexible material which is difiicult to cut, tear or pull apart. By providing the slots 25, there are left only short, narrow strip portions 23 in alignment with the slots 25 to join the two soles. These short strip portions can readily be broken.

In FIGS. 7 and 8, the assembly 10* has a row of round holes 28 provided in the web joining the two half soles 12 and 14 The holes are joined by short web portions 23* which can be broken readily to separate the half soles when required. Other parts are numbered as in assemblies 10, 10

The several slots 25 and holes 28 can be formed in the slabs after they are molded by punching with suitable dies. Alternatively, the slots and holes can be formed simultaneously with the forming of the slabs in the molds.

In all the assemblies 10, 10 and It)", the half soles can be folded at their narrow flexible webs which will then serve as hinges. The folded half soles can be packed in an individual box or wrapper if desired.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise constructions,

herein disclosed and that various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

A shoe sole assembly, comprising a slab of frangible flexible composition material having a pair of complementary half soles with parallel opposite sides for the major portions thereof, said half soles having contiguous shank portions of reduced tapering thickness joined together by a web of minimum thickness, said web being breakable for separating the several half soles, said web being flexible to act as a hinge for folding the slab along said web to juxtapose the two half soles, said web being formed with a plurality of round holes disposed in a row and spaced by short, thin portions of said material, said slab being formed from molded synthetic material, said holes being formed in the slab after the slab is molded.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,562,013 Tselentis Nov. 17, 1925 1,863,356 Slepian June 14, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS 149,599 Australia Jan. 7, 1953 

